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Wizard API updated!
Tim Boudreau has released a new version of the Swing Wizard library (version 0.997) that fixes the WizardException bug reported in JavaWorld's recent Open Source Java Project profile. The article's examples have been reworked to test out the new, improved WizardException. Thanks, Tim, for this helpful fix!
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In this article, I'll review six introductory texts for Java. All of these books are first editions, not rewrites, and have all been released within the last year. I'll reveal if any of these books stand up to the older set of updated, introductory Java texts.
In alphabetical order, the six books reviewed here are:
Table 1 below provides a quick review of the main characteristics of the six books:
| Table 1: Introductory Books Overview | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning Java Objects | Essentials of the JPL | Java 2: A Beginner's Guide | Java 2 Weekend Crash Course | Java: Visual Blueprint | Professional Java Programming | |
| Price | 9.99 | 4.95 | 9.99 | 9.99 | 6.99 | 9.99 |
| Total Pages | 660 | 300 | 570 | 430 | 300 | 1,100 |
| CD-ROM / Source Code on Web |
No / Yes | No / Yes | No / Yes | Yes / No | Yes / No | No / Yes |
| Java Version | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2* | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| OO Basics | Excellent | Average | Good | Average | Poor | Poor |
| Language Basics | Poor | Poor | Excellent | Good | Good | Poor |
| Client Side | Good | Good | Poor | Average | Average | Excellent |
| I/O | Average | Average | Average | Good | Average | Average |
| Threads | None | Poor | Average | None | Average | Good |
| Networking | None | Average | None | None | Average | Average |
| Server Side | None | Good | None | None | None | Average |
| Level | Objects Beginner | Beginning - Advanced | Beginning | Beginning | Beginning | Intermediate - Advanced* |
| Scale: None, Poor, Average, Good, Excellent A star (*) in a field means the review of the specific book provides further details of the ranking. |
||||||
For the most part, the above table is self-explanatory. After "Java Version," the rows describe the level of coverage, if any, each book offers on that topic. "Client Side" includes the coverage level for such topics as applets, AWT, Java 2D, and Swing. "Server Side" includes coverage of JDBC, servlets, JavaServer Pages (JSP), RMI, and the rest of the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE). The final row describes the appropriate reader level.
A more detailed review of the individual books follows, including a comparison to the older beginner books. Is it time you stray from the classics and try something new? Read on and find out. Beside each book's title is a star rating, which is based on my review of the book's quality, level of topic coverage, and appropriateness for its target audience. One star is equivalent to a poor rating, and the highest rating (five stars) translates to exceptional coverage.
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